The Bulls are the last remaining South African side in the European Champions Cup and they head to Northampton to take on the Saints in the quarter finals on Saturday.
Northampton Saints v Bulls, Saturday 13th April, Northampton, KO 21:00 (South African time)
Referee: Mathieu Raynal (Fra)
Assistant Referees: Ludovic Cayre (Fra) , Luc Ramos (Fra)
TMO: Thomas Charabas (Fra)
Weather Forecast - Northampton
Click here for all of our Super Rugby and Champions Cup plays
Northampton Saints:
The Saints saw off Munster in a Round of 16 home fixture last week. They came out on top 24-14 (14-14 half time) scoring 4 tries to 2 including a second half brace from substitute George Hendy.
In the pool stage the Saints were foot perfect, winning all 4 of their matches and scoring 18 tries in total. They also came up against Munster in that pool and won 26-23 in Limerick whilst other results included wins at Glasgow Warriors (28-19) and at home to Toulon (22-19) and Aviron Bayonnais (61-14).
The Saints currently top the Gallagher Premiership standings with a record of 10 wins and 4 defeats and they are 4 points clear of second placed Bath.
In the outright betting to win the Champions Cup the Saints are 15/1 shots with BoyleSports
Bulls:
After a short URC tour the Bulls returned to Loftus for last week's Round of 16 clash with Lyon and they made no mistake, coming out on top 59-19. They led 28-7 at half time and scored 9 tries to 3 in a comfortable win and they now head overseas again.
The Bulls finished as runners up to Bordeaux in their pool, winning 3 and losing 1 of their matches and their only defeat came in Round 2 away to their opponents here. They went down 29-28 in Lyon but they had left a number of regular starters at home. The Bulls beat Saracens 27-16 in their opening match at Loftus and also picked up a 31-17 win away to Bristol. In the final pool game they were 46-40 winners at home to Bordeaux.
With the Stormers having exited the Champions Cup last weekend the Bulls are the lone SA side left in the competition whilst in the URC they are in third spot in the standings.
In the outright betting to win the Champions Cup the Bulls are 17/1 shots with BoyleSports
Team News
Northampton Saints: 15 James Ramm, 14 George Hendy, 13 Tommy Freeman, 12 Fraser Dingwall, 11 Ollie Sleightholme, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Juarno Augustus, 7 Sam Graham, 6 Courtney Lawes (c), 5 Alex Coles, 4 Alex Moon, 3 Trevor Davison, 2 Curtis Langdon, 1 Emmanuel Iyogun
Replacements: 16 Sam Matavesi, 17 Alex Waller, 18 Paul Hill, 19 Temo Mayanavanua, 20 Angus Scott-Young, 21 Lewis Ludlam, 22 Tom James, 23 George Furbank
Bulls: 15 Devon Williams, 14 Sebastian de Klerk, 13 Henry Immelman, 12 Harold Vorster, 11 Stravino Jacobs, 10 Chris Smith, 9 Zak Burger, 8 Cameron Hanekom, 7 Mpilo Gumede, 6 Nizaam Carr (c), 5 JF van Heerden, 4 Janko Swanepoel, 3 Mornay Smith, 2 Akker van der Merwe, 1 Simphiwe Matanzima
Replacements: 16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17 Dylan Smith, 18 Francois Klopper, 19 Merwe Olivier, 20 Reinhardt Ludwig, 21 Keagan Johannes, 22 Jaco van der Walt, 23 Cornal Hendricks
The Betting
Northampton Saints -9.5 points
Bulls +10.5 points
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
Betting Angle
I handicapped this game Saints -6.5 assuming strength v strength and taking into account travel and home ground advantage.
The handicap opened -2.5 Saints and that was firm until news broke that the Bulls left their Springboks at home.
The line is on the move and is out to -10.5 in places and as we discussed last night on THE HANDICAP the question is whether it has moved enough?
Personally I don’t think so and I expect this Saints team to gradually take control of the match and to win comfortably against a Bulls team that has had to play Leinster away, Lyon at home and now Saints away in successive weeks. That is a big ask even at full strength.
I expect this cap to start around -12.5 and as Oracle said on the show if like him you like the Bulls wait for just before kick-off to get the biggest plus.
BET: 5 units Saints -9.5 19/20 at WSB
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
Subscribe to our free weekly betting mailer which will include our best and value bets below.
